This applies to pretty much every where! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/business/wisconsin-roads.html?referringSource=articleShare
We would love to have more county roads that were as good as the one in the photo.
Back in the 70's during my time in Michigan I finally found two roads in our county that had not yet been paved.?ÿ That was really nice except from about mid-April to early October.?ÿ That was the only time of year that the 3.6 trillion potholes in the paved roads were not packed solid with ice and snow.?ÿ By July top speed on most of those paved roads was about 10 mph plus you sometimes needed to drive on the wrong side of the road to hit a smaller number of them.?ÿ Wintertime turned them into smooth sailing.
We just tax the tourists exorbitantly. You name it, we tax it. We even tax you for taking a whiz. As a result we actually have decent roads EXCEPT for I-4 which is under perpetual construction since 1962. ?????ÿ
A dozen years ago, while I was living in Bethel, Maine, I ran out of excuses and invited my mother-in-law up for a visit.?ÿ We picked her up at Portland Jetport, hopped on the turnpike and started dodging pot-holes.?ÿ I messed up and slammed into one at about 65 mph and she looks at me and says, "Y'all don't know how to build roads up here, and I can't imagine having to pay money to drive on a road with holes in it".?ÿ NC has only recently had toll roads and they're of the design that just scans your plate and sends a bill.
It is significantly more costly to maintain roads in cold climates.?ÿ Many of the roads in Maine were built with native fill containing cobble sized particles.?ÿ However, the problem has nothing to do with the freeze/thaw cycle and everything to do with the failure of some states to prioritize infrastructure maintenance.?ÿ Why spend money on something as unsexy as rebuilding roads when there are so many social issues that need to be addressed??ÿ?ÿ
My father worked as a logger in Maine most of his life.?ÿ He hired independent truckers to haul his timber, so when the roads were posted during mud season, Dad just stopped cutting for a few weeks and used the time to get caught up with maintenance on his skidder.?ÿ I remember him talking to a gentleman who was blaming logging trucks for ruining the roads and Dad said something along the lines of, "If the state gave two $hits about logging trucks being overweight or driving on posted roads, all they would need to do was set scales out in front of the mills and check the addresses."?ÿ Easy solutions exist (especially with GPS trackers and GIS technology), politics prevents their implementation.?ÿ
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This applies to pretty much every where! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/business/wisconsin-roads.html?referringSource=articleShare
If by everwhere, you mean everywhere in the U.S. I agree.?ÿ Everytime I return from other deveoped nations I am shocked at the state of rural roads here.?ÿ
My dead end county road was torn up by heavy equipment installing a new power line two years ago, and it is still crumbling away.?ÿ
A dozen years ago, while I was living in Bethel, Maine, I ran out of excuses and invited my mother-in-law up for a visit.?ÿ We picked her up at Portland Jetport, hopped on the turnpike and started dodging pot-holes.?ÿ I messed up and slammed into one at about 65 mph and she looks at me and says, "Y'all don't know how to build roads up here, and I can't imagine having to pay money to drive on a road with holes in it".?ÿ NC has only recently had toll roads and they're of the design that just scans your plate and sends a bill.
It is significantly more costly to maintain roads in cold climates.?ÿ Many of the roads in Maine were built with native fill containing cobble sized particles.?ÿ However, the problem has nothing to do with the freeze/thaw cycle and everything to do with the failure of some states to prioritize infrastructure maintenance.?ÿ Why spend money on something as unsexy as rebuilding roads when there are so many social issues that need to be addressed??ÿ?ÿ
My father worked as a logger in Maine most of his life.?ÿ He hired independent truckers to haul his timber, so when the roads were posted during mud season, Dad just stopped cutting for a few weeks and used the time to get caught up with maintenance on his skidder.?ÿ I remember him talking to a gentleman who was blaming logging trucks for ruining the roads and Dad said something along the lines of, "If the state gave two $hits about logging trucks being overweight or driving on posted roads, all they would need to do was set scales out in front of the mills and check the addresses."?ÿ Easy solutions exist (especially with GPS trackers and GIS technology), politics prevents their implementation.?ÿ
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It is also takes less money per capita to maintain roads in States with denser populations.?ÿ
That crack sealing that is depicted, and seal coating, is perfectly legitimate maintenance. Keeping up with it extends the life of pavement dramatically. But crack sealing and seal coating pavement that has already failed is putting lipstick on a pig.?ÿ ?ÿ
@flga-2 As a Georgia DOT engineer told me.?ÿ "We have to continuously build and maintain roads because we have nowhere else to store all the orange barrels".
Andy
